Tina Charles 9th double-double of the season led the UCONN Huskies past a pesky University of South Florida Bulls basketball team in Tampa on Tuesday night. Charles had a career high 34 points and 17 rebounds while Charde Houston chipped in with her own double-double, 18 points and 10 rebounds. Kalana Greene rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 10 points. Nalini Miller had 18 points for the Bulls while Shantia Grace has 17 points. UCONN’s tough defense held USF star, Jessica Dixon, to 11 points on 5 of 16 shooting.

UCONN fell behind in the first half but a quick run got them back in front. They went into the break up 6 at 38-32. UCONN was never really threatened the rest of the way. South Florida couldn’t get closer than 9 the rest of the way.

Notes and observations:

  • The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles and Houston.
  • The win clinched their first Big East title in 3 years. It was their 14th overall and 11th outright.
  • The win also gives the Huskies a first round bye in the Big East Tournament.
  • Charles 9th double-double broke the freshman record of 8 double-doubles set by Rebecca Lobo.
  • Houston became the 28th Husky to score a 1,000 points in her career.
  • Montgomery was named one of the 11 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman trophy that goes annually to the top point guard in the country.
  • UCONN’s streak of 170 games with a 3 point shot made was in jeopardy until 3:23 left in the game when Thomas hit a 3 pointer.
  • Charles 34 point game was the first time a Husky went over 30 points in a game since Barbara Turner scored 31 against Georgia in the NCAA tournament last season.
  • Brittany Hunter returned to the lineup after missing 6 of the last 7 games. She only played 3 minutes.
  • Meghan Gardler also returned to the lineup after her hard fall to the floor. She received medical clearance to play this morning.
  • Ketia Swanier took a hard fall when she took a charge. She didn’t return to the game after that and looked as though she was favoring her left hip. She also scored 2 points, which amounted to all of UCONN’s bench scoring.
  • The crowd of 5,241 at USF was the largest ever for a women’s basketball game at South Florida.

It was the 11th consecutive victory for the Huskies. They move to 25-2 (14-0 in the Big East). They can run the table in the Big East with victories over Villanova and Rutgers. Up next will be the aforementioned Villanova Wildcats in the final home regular season game for the Huskies. The game is at 12:00 noon and will be played at the Hartford Civic Center. It will be televised locally on CPTV.

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